President Droupadi Murmu hosted a dinner for the outgoing Union council of ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Amethi Lok Sabha seat Smriti Irani on Thursday submitted to the Election Commission that she did not complete her graduation from Delhi University.
Various facets of Mahatma Gandhi's life journey were displayed by the 22 tableaux that rolled down the Rajpath during the 70th Republic Day Parade.
She began her career as an aspiring model in the late 1990s. A few decades later, she is one of India's best known politicians.
As many as 28 out of 41 sitting women MPs, including Sonia Gandhi, Hema Malini and Kirron Kher, retained their seats in Lok Sabha.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said nothing much happened during his meeting with his uncle and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in Pune last week.
The Delhi high court on Friday issued summons to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D'Souza on a civil defamation suit filed by Union minister Smriti Irani seeking damages of over Rs 2 crore for allegedly making baseless allegations against her and her daughter.
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners Samajwadi Party and Congress on Wednesday announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with UP's main opposition party leaving 17 out of the 80 seats in the state for the ally.
As many as 37 ministers have been dropped from the government in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term and these include seven with cabinet rank -- prominent among them being Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur and Narayan Rane.
Irani said the show of strength by the Congress is aimed at putting pressure on the probe agency, and asserted that nobody is above the law "even Rahul Gandhi".
She also tagged a video in which an elderly women is seen alleging that her hand was forcibly put on 'panja' (hand) election symbol of the Congress though she wanted to vote for the 'kamal' (lotus), the BJP's symbol.
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
"Everything we consume, we have to consume responsibly," the textile minister said at Lakme Fashion Week.
Political observers lauded the SP's choices in fielding several non-Yadav and Scheduled Caste candidates, the party's alliance with the Congress, and Rahul Gandhi's campaign around the danger to the Constitution if the BJP won a big majority.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Reacting sharply to Congress leader Ajay Maken's comments on Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani's educational qualifications, senior Cabinet colleague Uma Bharti on Wednesday targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
'This is a very sexist, narrow minded way of pre-judging a woman. A foolish carry-forward of the old "All models are dumb bimbos" adage.' Shobhaa De jumps to Smriti Irani's defence.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ruling party appears to have worked to a plan, beginning with the weaning away of Congress MLC and MLAs.
Lok Sabha constituencies that sprung a surprise in the 2024 polls.
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
The Congress on Wednesday came out in defence of Rahul Gandhi saying he never disrespects women and the Bharatiya Janata Party is indulging in an 'indecent' act of accusing him of 'misconduct' as it does not want a debate on Manipur violence.
Speaking to reporters at the Gujarat BJP headquarters, the Union textiles and women and child development minister hit out at Gandhi over his comment that the Congress, if voted to power, would scrap the contentious legislations.
The BJP, which romped to power in 2019 on the back of an unequivocal mandate from UP, winning 62 of its 80 seats, was cut to size this time and had to be content with only 33 seats.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
Lack of organisational network and a strong disconnect with the rural population led to the Congress president's defeat in what until now had been described as a party stronghold.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday indicated his party could field a candidate in the next election from the high-profile Amethi seat, which it used to leave for the Congress.
Union minister Smriti Irani on Monday bought a plot of land in Amethi to build a house for herself and, in an apparent dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said no member of Parliament from here ever made the constituency his house.
The Indian National Congress is in no way connected with the businesses of Dheeraj Sahu, MP. Only he can explain, Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh said.
"Is being part of Modi's 'political family' a 'guarantee of protection' for criminals?" Rahul Gandhi asked.
The Law Commission said it values the input of all stakeholders and aims to create an "inclusive environment that encourages active engagement".
Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani has distributed over 15,000 saris among woman from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency as a Diwali gift.
Police did not rule out the possibility of it being a 'political murder'.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Smriti Irani on Wednesday filed her nomination from Amethi and attacked her main opponent Rahul Gandhi, saying his own party did not have faith in his abilities to name him the prime ministerial candidate.
She further said that Rahul Gandhi's words were not driven by animosity, despite his disqualification and subsequent legal victory.
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